Fuel conveying and crushing mechanism



.N. M. LOWER. FUEL CONVEY'ING'AND CRUSHING MECHANISM.

AVPPLICATION FILED NOV. '25, 1919- L ssqglsso Patented July 12,1921,

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

1% Mentor:

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M. LOWER. FUEL- CONVEYING AND.CRUSHING MECHANISM. APPLlCATl ON FILED NOV. 25,1919.

1 ,3M 1386 Pate ted July 12, 1921.,

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I To all whom it may concern; I Be'itknown that l, NATHAN M. Lower, citizen of the-United States, and res dent STOKER COMPANY, e-cortronerron or rnrmsrnvanre.

seer. CONVEYING Mn) Ga a meanest.

metres.

Application filed l\Tovern-ber I of Pittsburgh, county of Allegheny, and

State Of Pennsylvania, have. invented cer-. tain newan'd useful Improvements in Fuel "Conveying and Crushing Mechanism, of

which the following isa specification, and

m which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The invention relates to mechanism tor conveying fuel, as from a locomotive tender, to a locomotive fire-box, andfor reducing the larger lumps ing so conveyedto a suitable size while he;

The invention consists ofa conduit, a fueladvancmg dev ce, such asa spiral con- Iveyer, and one or more rigid bands or straps secured within the conduit and circling the conveyer. I Y

in the accompanying drawings lllustrat;

partially en .ing the invention ."Figurel is a transverse-section through the conduit andconveyer anda portion of the floor of the b111, a pa r of crushing straps Fig. '2 is a-idetail longitudinal section of the device as shown in'Fig. 1

Fi 3 is a view similar to Fig; 1, showing a mddlfied'form of construction;

Fig. 4 is .a detail longitudinal vertical section .of the construction shown in Fig. 3;;

Fig. 5 s a sectional view on the l1ne 5-5 Q "I t. A orrig. i.

The invention is intended especially for -"use in connection with locomotive. stokers.

through,, this opening being guarded by a The flOOlI' of the locomotive tenderis repre sented at 10, and is provided with an open ing' for the discharge of the fuel there depending flange 11. At trough 12, located below the floor 01f the tender, receives fu ell through the opening in the floor 10. I Fueladvancing means is provided within the.

trough 12, and preferably takesthe 'form of a spiral conveyer 13, as shown, I

It is common practice to use run of mine coal on locomotives, and consequently there frequently occur lumps of coal which,

are larger than can be conveniently delivered through the stoker'niechanism and. on greater size than it is desirable to introduce Specification of Let tersiEatent.

vertical.

the crushing operation,

Patented ui ia, rear. 25, 1.9191; Serial No. stones. f

into the fire-box, and hence it bec'omes'necess'ary to'provide means for-reducing these large pieces. In the presentinvention the fuel-crushingmechanism. consists of. a heavy metal band or. strap, as ld, arching over and substantially concentric with the spiral,

conveyer 13, its inner-face being preferably approximately parallelwith the axis thereof. This strap 'is firmly and rigidly. secured to the trough 12 by having its end portions 15, l6,'bent to conform to the side walls of the trough and being attached thereto, as by means of rivets.

Preferably a p'luralityof such crushing bands .are employed, there'being two shown in the drawings,-the band 17, which is first encountered by the advancing f'uel, being 'ozf-the'larger radius. The band 17 maybe fsecured' within the trough in the. same man- "ner'as the bandit. As thefuel is advanced lumps which are too large to pass under the band-17 are crushed against its edge by the, pressure of the conveyor vane, and thus partially reduced in size. Such of the lumps, or fragments ofthe larger liunps,'as pass under the band 17, but are of. a size too large to pass under the handle, are similarlycrushed against the edge of the latter. I By employing a plurality ot crushing bands the stresses incident to the crushing action are'distributed and congestion of the fuel is-avoided. These advantages may be "secured to even-a greater extent by using more than two crushing bands, and this would be particularly desirable where fuel is. supplied containing exceedingly large lumps.

The modification of FigsS to 5 differs es-. sentially from the form show'nin 'Figs. l

and 2 only in the construction of theparts. The smaller crushing bandlS is an integral part of a castingv 19 which forms a section of the trough, the larger crushing bandQO being secured within the trough and, as shown, partlytothe casting 19 and partly to the rearward section 21 'otthe trough, which is usually of heavy plate.

' In the construction of Figs. 1 and 2 there is provided a reinforcing shoe 22, located in the bottom of the trough 12 below the crushingbands, its-purpose being to prevent an undue deflection of the conveyor shaft in too "arching overthe advancing means and coacting therewith, such abutment beingin the form of a plate having its inner face parallel with the axis of the conduit."

2. In a fuel conveyer'and crusher, in combination, a conduit, fuel-advancing means within the conduit, and a crushing abutment arching over the advancing means and coacting therewith, such abutment being in the form of a plate having its inner face parallel with the axis of the conduit, the conduit having a receiving opening adapted to admit pieces of fuel larger than the capacity of the conduit.

3. In a fuel c onveyer and crusher, a casting formed on in arc and adapted to serve as a section of a conduit, a shoulder at each end of said arc, each shoulder adapted to support an end of a sectlon of conduit, 21 second arc integral at its ends with the first-named arc and of reverse curvature, said secondnamed are adapted to serve as a crusher, and a spiral conveyer inclosed within such arcs.

4:. In a fuel convcyer and crusher, in combination, a conduit, a screw conveyer within the conduit, and a crushing abutment in the form of a plate arching over the screw conveyer, the concave face of the plate being parallel with the axis of the conduit.

7. In a fuel conveyer and crusher, in combination, a conduit, fuel advancing means within the conduit, and a plurality of bars L instrap form arching over the advancing means at different axial locations and differently spaced therefrom.

8. In a fuel conveyer and crusher, in combination, a condult, fuel-advancing means within the conduit, aplurality ofbars arching over the advancing means spaced from each other axially of said means,the diameters of successive arches being less in the direction of advance by action of said means.

9. In a fuel conveyer and crusher, in combination', a conduit, fuel-advancing means in said conduit, crushing means comprising a succession of cylindrical surfaces arching over said advancing means, successive surfaces in the direction of fuel advance being of less diameter than its predecessor, the rearward end of each surface presenting a crushing shoulder to the advancing fuel.

NATHAN M. LOWER. 

